As the Infran of Life, thirteen-year-old Ally Hatten is supposed to be one of Alvoskia's eight admired reincarnated protectors?if she still had access to her powers. After a traumatic childhood incident revealed her true nature, Ally was sent to live in safety with her fellow Infrans until they came of age to be proper diplomats, soldiers, and servants. But seven years later, Ally's powers still haven't returned, a problem her new family doesn't know how to solve, and war lurks on the horizon. A powerless Infran is a dead Infran and Ally has come close to being dead before. Worse still, the last Infran who was dormant like Ally turned into a monster that everyone agrees is better left undiscussed.

When the rival country of Kilvoskia violates their borders, the Infrans are thrust into a world of deceptive politics on a ticking time limit: two weeks to travel to the enemy capitol and negotiate a peace treaty, or their world will see war like never before. Alvoskia's hopes rest on the shoulders of Ally's twin sister, Jamie, an embittered Infran of Death with intimate knowledge of the enemy, and their friend, an Infran of Fire named Flames, a prodigy blessed with abilities no one has seen in three thousand years. Abilities Ally was supposed to have.

But to stop the conflict before it begins, Jamie will have to confront the monster who raised her, and Flames, the shadows of a past she can't quite burn to ashes. And perhaps, Ally can at last find the secret to unlocking her powers in a city devoid of all life. Haunted by the Infran who went off the rails, and struggling to find her place in a world that seems determined to shut her out of it, Ally and the Infrans must rise to the challenges set before them, or risk losing the only family they have left: each other.